Montgomery County still not out of Harvey's rainwater as disaster declaration issued

By Jay R. Jordan, jjordan@hcnonline.com

Published
7:40 pm CDT, Saturday, August 26, 2017

A person talks on the phone across from Old Highway 105 East and South Walker Road in East Montgomery County, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017.

A person talks on the phone across from Old Highway 105 East and South Walker Road in East Montgomery County, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017.

Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer

Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer

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A person talks on the phone across from Old Highway 105 East and South Walker Road in East Montgomery County, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017.

A person talks on the phone across from Old Highway 105 East and South Walker Road in East Montgomery County, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017.

Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer

Montgomery County still not out of Harvey's rainwater as disaster declaration issued

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While Montgomery County hasn't seen the worst of Hurricane Harvey's rainstorms in this area, County Judge Craig Doyal's plea to Texas Gov. Greg Abbot may have ensured the county's inclusion in the governor's state disaster declaration, opening up the possibility for federal and state assistance on storm damage from the storm, which could dump at least a foot on the region overnight Saturday.

Hurricane Harvey made landfall Friday evening near Corpus Christi and has since been downgraded to a tropical storm, although its remnants will linger over Southeast Texas for several days, experts say. Its latest track has it moving more toward Austin rather than back out into the Gulf of Mexico as previously predicted. But the dirty, or wet, side of the storm is projected to hit Montgomery County.

Last week, Abbott listed 30 counties in the disaster declaration but did not include Montgomery County. In response, Doyal issued a countywide disaster declaration early Friday and urged the governor to include the county. Then, in a press release Saturday, Abbott announced the addition of Montgomery County along with 19 other counties that were not initially included in his Wednesday declaration. Abbott initially declared a State of Disaster for Aransas, Austin, Bee, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado, Brazoria, DeWitt, Fayette, Fort Bend, Galveston, Goliad, Gonzales, Harris, Jackson, Jefferson, Jim Wells, Karnes, Kleberg, Lavaca, Liberty, Live Oak, Matagorda, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Victoria, Waller, Wharton and Wilson counties. President Donald Trump also has issued a disaster declaration for Texas.

"The addition of these counties to the state disaster declaration will continue to allow Texas to quickly deploy all available resources to those affected by this devastating storm," Abbott said. "Hurricane Harvey has had a catastrophic impact on Texans and their property, and this declaration will help them rebuild and recover. The state will continue to provide as much aid as possible to these communities that have already lost so much."

Doyal told The Courier Saturday that the county would need to sustain $1.6 million in damages to public property, or accrue that cost through preparation or cleanup, before any federal funding would be available. Trump also would need to add Montgomery County to his declared disaster zone before the county can receive any funds.

Abbott's declaration came after Montgomery County received 3-6 inches of rain as of 6 p.m. Saturday, with parts of Magnolia getting almost 9 inches. As Southwest Montgomery County was under a flash-flood and tornado warning Friday evening, the area received 2.8 inches of rain in one hour, totaling 8.8 inches over the previous 24 hours.

Spring Creek near The Woodlands received about 6.2 inches of rain, while areas north of Willis received 5.8 inches. The Lake Conroe area received 3.8 to 4.7 inches of rain as Montgomery received 4.2 to 4.6 inches of rain.

Residents in East Montgomery County received anywhere from 2.5 inches to 4.5 inches of rain.

The Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management tweeted Saturday that an additional 3-6 inches by Sunday morning, with others prognosticating a foot or more.

"We could be in for a tremendous amount of rain for an extended period of time," Doyal said. "We're saturated at this point, where we weren't before. Wind was never a concern for us, but that's the problem with storms like this. They're so unpredictable in where they move and how fast they move. That's the million-dollar question."

The Conroe Salvation Army opened its doors to flood victims Saturday morning. It is contemplating also opening its new building Saturday to accommodate as many displaced victims as possible. The new building was slated to open for normal day-to-day operations Sunday.

The Red Cross had not opened a disaster shelter in Montgomery County as of 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

No major damage was reported Saturday as Harvey's outer bands whipped Southeast Texas. Those rain bands will likely continue to affect the area until Tuesday.